Udenfor - en receptionsanalyse af en kampagnefilm

摘要

This project conducts a study of reception analysis based on the film Udenfor (‘Outside’), produced by the project group in October 2015. The film concerns homelessness, and the study examines how informants reflect on this subject in seeing the film, through a reception analysis based on two group interviews with a sample of the target group; this has been defined as ‘the middle class’. The initial motivation behind the production of the film was the lack of relevance and identification projected by the existing audiovisual communication of the intended sender, Projekt Udenfor (‘Project Outside’), an organisation that is concerned with the homeless and the challenges they face. The main aim of the film has been to induce reflection on the subject of homelessness through a construction of the film which does not explicitly suggest a defined action or position from the recipient, but leaves this open to interpretation; thus the study is concerned with how, rather than if this reflection occurs in the informants. In including theoretical concepts from these science-theoretical perspectives in the reception analysis, the project is founded in hermeneutics and social-constructivism. It was found that the reflection on the subject occurred in relation to the informants’ individual life-worlds and previous experiences. Additionally, their reflection on the presentation of homelessness was influenced by general prejudices concerning the homeless, and it is found that while the informants aim to view the homeless as equals, there is a predefined distance towards this group. The project concludes that the film’s construction as one that is open to interpretation is a precondition for the reflection. This being said, this openness to interpretation in the construction and narrative of the film leads to an uncertainty concerning which actions or positions that are desired from the recipients, consequently leaving them confused. Thus it is concluded that the construction of the film, while being a precondition for the reflection in the informants, additionally makes basis of a confusion in the recipients; this further shows that there is a potential need for a different approach concerning the communication on the subject of homelessness.